Jail term unlikely for Fiesta Bowl executive

by Craig Harris - Sept. 11, 2012 11:04 PMThe Republic | azcentral.com

The U.S. Attorney's Office has agreed not to seek jail time for the Fiesta Bowl's former chief operating officer, who has recently aided authorities after admitting involvement in an illegal campaign-contribution scheme at the bowl.

The scheme, along with other revelations of financial mismanagement on Natalie Wisneski's watch, tarnished the Fiesta Bowl's image and nearly cost it a place in the coveted Bowl Championship Series, worth millions of tourist dollars annually to the Valley.

John Leonardo, U.S. attorney for Arizona, in court filings last week said his office will seek probation for Wisneski at her Monday sentencing in U.S. District Court, citing her "full and continued cooperation" with law enforcement.

She faced up to a year in prison on the felony conspiracy charge.

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment.

Guilty pleas

Wisneski is among six current or former Fiesta Bowl employees, including ex-CEO John Junker, who have pleaded guilty to state or federal crimes stemming from bowl investigations.

Former bowl lobbyist John MacDonald has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for not properly disclosing spending on travel for lawmakers while currying their favor on behalf of the bowl.

Federal prosecutors initially accused Wisneski of engaging, since at least 2003, in a scheme in which Fiesta Bowl employees were asked to make campaign contributions to specific candidates, then reimbursed with bowl funds. Doing so is illegal.

She also was second in command and in charge of financial records when bowl funds were used improperly for a variety of other things -- for example, when officials visited strip clubs in 2008, or when Wisneski took a trip to Paris in 2009 at bowl expense.

In December 2009, when The Arizona Republic first reported allegations of a political-contribution scheme, Wisneski denied one existed.

The report prompted the Arizona Secretary of State's Office to investigate the bowl in early 2010. Wisneski did not respond to an official request to assist that investigation, said Amy Chan, state elections director.

"I don't remember getting any help from her," Chan said.

That lack of assistance from Fiesta Bowl employees led the Secretary of State's Office in July 2010 to ask the Arizona Attorney General's Office to conduct a criminal investigation. Only after that investigation was conducted did Wisneski offer to assist law enforcement.

She cooperated with the Arizona Attorney General's Office and was not charged by that agency. But the federal government got involved in the case and indicted her in November 2011 on nine counts, including making campaign contributions in the name of another, causing false statements to be made to the Federal Election Commission, filing false tax returns and conspiracy. Seven counts were felonies.

Wisneski reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office and pleaded guilty in March to a single felony conspiracy charge for her role in the campaign-contribution scheme.

Wisneski began working for the bowl in 1989 at age 25 as an entry-level accounting clerk, court records show. She never obtained a college degree, but she was eventually promoted to chief operating officer in 2006. She held that position until being forced to resign in March 2011. She had a total compensation of $391,824 in fiscal 2010.

In her sentencing memorandum, which lays out why Wisneski should receive probation, her attorney highlighted her cooperation with state and federal prosecutors, which he credited with helping them obtain Junker's conviction. He also said the dollar amounts involved in the campaign-contribution scheme were "insignificant."

"We simply wish to draw attention to the court that it wasn't as if Ms. Wisneski spent significant time participating in the scheme. The scheme was obviously wrong -- but incidental to the good activities performed by the bowl, Ms. Wisneski and its employees," wrote James Burke, her attorney.

'Crucial' testimony

Campaign-finance records obtained by The Republic show Wisneski contributed a total of nearly $8,000 to campaigns during 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Burke also asserted that although Wisneski participated in the campaign-contribution scheme, she did so at the direction of those who "spearheaded" it: Junker and Gary Husk, the bowl's former key lobbyist.

Burke also stated that her testimony will be "crucial in any further prosecution related to the campaign scheme and cover-up."

Husk has not been charged by federal or state prosecutors, and he has adamantly denied wrongdoing.

"John Junker and Natalie Wisneski were responsible for the management and handling of the funds for the Fiesta Bowl," said former Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, Husk's attorney. "They are trying to get away with it, and it appears they got a great deal by trying to place the blame on someone else."

Junker, who was fired in March 2011, has pleaded guilty to felonies in state and federal courts for engaging in the campaign-contribution conspiracy.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in late November in state and federal courts, but sentencing could be postponed to 2013 as he assists prosecutors, who are still investigating Husk.

Junker's attorney on Tuesday confirmed the claims made by Wisneski's attorney.

"We don't disagree," Stephen Dichter said. "John accepts full responsibility for his role in these events. She worked and reported directly to him. It's obvious in the fact that he was her boss and was directly involved in the activities she engaged in."

Burke's sentencing memorandum downplays the amount of money involved in the conspiracy. He wrote that the "total amount of the campaign contributions was less than $30,000 for the entire period of the conspiracy," which he said began in the early 2000s and ended in 2009. He underlined the $30,000 figure for emphasis.

The figure is significant because, under federal sentencing guidelines, when a financial loss is less than $30,000, the recommended sentence for a defendant is less onerous.

But the Fiesta Bowl's independent investigation into the scandal found that employees told investigators that the bowl reimbursed 11 staffers more than $40,000 in political donations.

Burke declined to explain the discrepancy but recognized the accuracy of that investigation in his report, even including a letter saying she cooperated with the Fiesta Bowl's internal investigation.